Roland Garros (a.k.a. The French Open), which is the second
grand slam of the year, gets underway today in Paris, France. There are a lot
of interesting things to look for over these coming two weeks on both the Men
and Women’s side. What I will do is help narrow things down for you and give
you ten things to look for over the coming two weeks.
1.
Look
for Stanislas Wawrinka to make another deep run: We’re so used to Rafael
Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic dominating tennis that
when another guy wins a Grand Slam it feels like the sky is falling. Well, it
felt like that to me at least when Stanislas Wawrinka won the Australian Open
back in January. A key thing to look for at this French Open is how he responds
to the pressures of being the last guy to win a Grand Slam. Does he play well
with the extra boost of confidence coming from his title or does he not play as
well because of the expectations? I expect the former. I think he will play
well and will make another deep run at a Grand Slam. How deep of a run? I
expect him to reach the Semifinals and beat Andy Murray in the Quarterfinals.
He is 3-0 against Murray all-time on the dirt, which I think bodes very well
for him going into this Grand Slam.
2.
Maria
Sharapova is going to need some help: I thought Maria Sharapova had a shot
to go deep in this tournament judging by how she was playing on clay going into
this tournament until I saw that her likely Quarterfinal opponent is Serena
Williams. Williams owns Sharapova, winning 15 straight matches against her. If
Sharapova wants to once again be called the “Queen of Clay”, she’s going to
need somebody to knock out Serena Williams before the Quarterfinals.
3.
How
far will Grigor Dimitrov go? Grigor Dimitrov (a.k.a. Baby Fed) is one of
the few guys on tour who truly is labeled as “up and coming”. His is ranked #12
in the world, the highest of his career and is coming off his best Grand Slam
performance down at Australia with a Quarterfinals appearance. His stock could
rise with another deep run at a Grand Slam. It’ll be interesting to see how he
does at Roland Garros since the furthest he’s ever gone on the dirt in Paris is
the 3rd round.
4.
How
will Simona Halep play? Simona Halep is the #4 player in the world, the
highest she’s ever been ranked, and yet she doesn’t have much Grand Slam success. She has been to the 4th round of the US Open and Quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Will she back up her ranking or will she flame
out early? Only time will tell.
5.
Will
David Ferrer gain any confidence from beating Rafael Nadal on clay? David
Ferrer defeated Rafael Nadal on clay earlier this year. The previous time he
beat Rafa on clay was back in 2004 in Stuttgart, Germany. They are scheduled to
face each other in the Quarterfinals, and it will be interesting to see how
Ferrer plays in light of his recent victory. I expect Nadal to win of course,
but Ferrer’s recent win makes the match much more interesting.
6.
Is
Sloane Stephens poised to make a deep run? Sloane Stephens has a really
nice draw in my opinion. The top 2 seeds in her quarter of the draw are Petra
Kvitova and Simona Halep. Neither player screams Grand Slam success, which is
why if you are picking somebody unexpected to make a deep run, this is the
section of the women’s draw to focus on. Sloane Stephens has had success in
Paris before and with this kind of draw, she could easily find herself in the
Semifinals of the French Open.
7.
Does
Novak Djokovic’s wrist bother him? Djokovic is going into this French Open
having had a wrist injury. Reports say his wrist feels fine, but how will it
hold up over the coming 2 weeks? Since Djokovic is the only real threat to
Rafael Nadal on clay, the health of Djokovic will definitely be something to
watch for.
8.
How
successful will Serena Williams be? Serena Williams is coming in as the
favorite to win the French Open by many, but she has only won the event twice
in her career (2002 and 2013). The clay clearly isn’t her favorite surface and
her earliest exit from a Grand Slam was in the 1st round of the 2012
French Open when Virginie Razzano stunned Serena Williams and the tennis world
to go along with it. I think Serena can be very successful this year at the
French Open, but she’s going to have to mentally overcome the fact that this
has been her least successful Grand Slam.
(image from tennisnow.com)
9.
Look
for Rafael Nadal to win it all: When it is all said and done, I expect the
King of Clay to win it all once again. The French Open is his favorite event
and the event where he absolutely dominates and plays his best tennis. He has
won 8 French Open titles (8 of the last 9) and I don’t expect that to change.
Only Novak Djokovic poses a serious threat to Nadal in my opinion and I don’t
see Djokovic getting it done. If Rafael Nadal doesn’t win the French Open, that
will be the biggest tennis story of the decade up to this point.
(image from zimbio.com)
10.
Look for Na Li to win it all on the Women’s
side: Na Li is the player I’m picking to win the Women’s French Open title.
She’s the #2 seed at the French Open with a projected Quarterfinal match
against Jelena Jankovic and a projected Semifinals match against whoever comes
out of that chaotic Petra Kvitova/Simona Halep/Sloane Stephens section of the
draw. I fully expect Na Li to reach the Final, and considering Serena Williams’
past as this event, there are good odds Na Li never sees Serena. I see no
reason to pick another player (other than maybe Serena) to win this event,
especially since Na Li just won the Australian Open. I expect Na Li to win her
2nd French Open title and 3rd Grand Slam title overall.
---Ben Parker: for more tennis news from me, follow me @atp_guy. My personal twitter handle is @slamdunk406
